2017 in motorsport
# 2017 in motorsport

The following is an overview of the events of 2017 in motorsport, including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.

## Annual events

The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 2–14 January | 39th Dakar Rally |
| 21–22 January | 28th Race of Champions |
| 28–29 January | 55th 24 Hours of Daytona |
| 26 February | 59th Daytona 500 |
| 18 March | 65th 12 Hours of Sebring |
| 22–23 April | 40th 24 Hours of Le Mans Moto |
| 27–28 May | 45th 24 Hours of Nürburgring |
| 28 May | 75th Monaco Grand Prix |
| 28 May | 101st Indianapolis 500 |
| 3–9 June | 99th Isle of Man TT |
| 17–18 June | 85th 24 Hours of Le Mans |
| 25 June | 95th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb |
| 29–30 July | 69th 24 Hours of Spa |
| 30 July | 40th Suzuka 8 Hours |
| 16–17 September | 81st Bol d'Or |
| 8 October | 60th Bathurst 1000 |
| 14–18 November | 50th Baja 1000 |
| 19 November | 64th Macau Grand Prix |

## Established championships/events

| First race | Championship |
| - | - |
| 10–11 January | 24H Proto Series |
| 13 January | TCR Middle East Series |
| 8 April | Blancpain GT Series Asia |
| 15 April | FIA Formula 2 Championship |
| 15 April | GT4 European Series Southern Cup |
| 29 April | TCR Iberico Touring Car Series |
| 17 June | TCR China Touring Car Championship |
| 1 October | FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup |

## Disestablished championships/events

| Last race | Championship |
| - | - |
| 18 November | TCR International Series |
| 18 November | World Series Formula V8 3.5 |
| 1 December | World Touring Car Championship |

## Opened motorsport venues

| Date | Venue | First event | Ref |
| - | - | - | - |
| 15 July | Brooklyn Street Circuit | New York ePrix | |
| 29 July | Montreal Street Circuit | Montreal ePrix | |

## Deaths

| Date | Month | Name | Age | Nationality | Occupation | Note |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 24 | January | Chuck Weyant | 93 | American | Racing driver | |
| 10 | March | John Surtees | 83 | British | Motorcycle racer Racing driver | World champion in MotoGP (1956, 1958, 1959, 1960) and Formula One (1964) |
| 12 | March | Patrick Nève | 67 | Belgian | Racing driver | |
| 2 | April | Sam Ard | 78 | American | Racing driver | NASCAR Late Model champion |
| 5 | April | Tim Parnell | 84 | British | Racing driver | |
| 27 | April | Joe Leonard | 84 | American | Motorcycle racer Racing driver | 1954, 1956 and 1967 AMA Grand National champion 1971 and 1972 USAC champion |
| 28 | April | Billy Scott | 68 | American | Racing driver | |
| 30 | April | Preston Henn | 86 | American | Racing driver | Also known as entrepreneur (Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop) |
| 4 | May | Timo Mäkinen | 79 | Finnish | Rally driver | One of the Flying Finns |
| 18 | May | Jim McElreath | 89 | American | Racing driver | 1966 USAC runner-up |
| 22 | May | Nicky Hayden | 35 | American | Motorcycle racer | 2006 MotoGP champion |
| 18 | July | Erich Waxenberger | 86 | German | Engineer and racing driver | Creator of the Rote Sau. |
| 26 | July | Leo Kinnunen | 73 | Finnish | Racing driver | First Finnish Formula One driver. |
| 1 | August | Bud Moore | 75 | American | Racing driver | Raced in NASCAR. |
| 3 | August | Ángel Nieto | 70 | Spanish | Motorcycle racer | Winner of 13 Grand Prix World Championships. |
| 19 | August | Shane Sieg | 34 | American | Racing driver | Raced in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. |
| 21 | August | Don Nichols | 92 | American | Team owner | Founded Shadow Racing Cars. |
| 15 | September | Bruce Leven | 79 | American | Racing driver/team owner | Triple 12 Hours of Sebring winner (1981, 1987 and 1988) |
| 19 | September | John Nicholson | 75 | New Zealander | Racing driver | Founded Nicholson-McLaren engines, classified in 1975 British Grand Prix. |
| 9 | October | Bill Puterbaugh | 81 | American | Racing driver | 1975 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. |
| 25 | October | Gaspar Ronda | 91 | American | Drag racer and restaurateur | |
| 17 | December | Bob Glidden | 73 | American | Drag racer | |
